Method and means for closing containers



Yeh.. s, 1929. 1,700,984

J. M. HOTHERSALL v nmTHon -AND MEANS FOR CLOSING CONTAINERS Filed Jan.l0, 1925 Illl ml Patented Feb. 5, 1929.

i'l`E STATES i 1,700,984 PATENT oFFicE.

JOHN .'M. HOTI-IERSALL, OF BROOKLYN,KNEW YORK, ASSG'NOR TO AMERICAN CANCOM- PANY, OF NEW YORK, N, Y., A. COBPGRATION OF NEVI JERSEY.

METHOD AND MEANS FOR` CLOSING CONTAINERS.

Application filed January 10, 1925. Serial No. 1,532.

The present invention relates to a method and means for closingcontainers and, while it is perhaps particularly adapted for attaching`metallic closures to nozzles, or extended neck portions of metalcontainers, it is also capable of use in applying closures to glassbottles, or jars having shoulders formed upon the neck or body thereofand, in its broader aspects, is not limited to the closing of anyparticular form of container.

In attaching closures to nozzle typecontainers in the past, it has beencustomary to place the closure elements upon the nozzle and to spin themetal of a retaining portion l5 of said closure elements into tightengage- Vment with an outwardly extended cooperating part upon thenozzle or neck of the container. Mechanism for this purpose ordi narilyinvolves the use of rollers which engage the edge or liange on theclosure and roll or spin the same into retaining position. An other formof mechanism employed for the purpose involves the use of a series ofsqueezer jaws, or die members, adapted to contract about the peripheryof the closure member and, by a squeezing action to fold the metal ofthe closure member into contact with the nozzle or extended part-of thecontainer.

Both these forms of closing mechanism have required more or lesscomplicated and relatively large and expensive machinery for the propermounting and operation of the rollers, or jaws, and while they aresatisfac tory and practical for large plants, wherein the closingmachines may be incorporated as a part of a line of automatic machineryand the production is in such quantity as to justify the expenseofcontinuous operationr of such machinery, insmaller plants.l where proyduction is more limited and somewhat intermittent, an automatic closingmachine of the type just described is not practical because of the costand the expense of upkeep and operation. On this account hand tools havesometimes been employed in such places, these, however, being ordinarilyof the rotary type which require considerable skill and strength foroperation and, therefore, cannot be depended upon for uniform results,or for continued operation for a very great length of time, due to theelement of human skill and to the fact that very few operators cancontinuously exert the pressure and power necessary for eliicientoperation throughout the hears of work dayd When the closing operationis not ei'iciently performed either because of lack of skill or strengthand endurance of the operator, imperfectresults are frequently obtainedwhich cause 'depreciation of the contents of the imperfcctly closedcontainers Furthermore, this type of tool requires the removal of eachcontainer separately from a line or group in which it may be located.and the replacement thereof, after the closing operation, or the placingof the closed can in a box or shipping case so that the numerousoperations involved add too greatly Ato the cost of production andprevent eiiicient operan tion.

My invention is directed to the provision i of an improved method andmeans for operating upon the closures of containers after the same havebeen positioned to effectively f attach them to the container nozzlewithout thediiicultieshereinbeforereferredto. While l have shown themeans for accomplishing' this resultas embodied in a hand tool, it willbe apparent that it is also readily adaptable to an automatic machinefor performing the same closing action. The tool is of very simpleconstruction and of small size and when manipulated by hand, may beemployed to close the containers without moving them from the positionin which they may be arranged either in a line in the factory or in apacking case.

A highly important feature of my invention is the provision of a methodand means for closing containers by which the retaining portion of theclosure is accurately shaped to most eHectively engage the particularnozzle upon which the closure isplaced, the shaping being accomplishedafter the parts are positioned upon the nozzle and the tool employed forcarrying out the method of the invention being provided for this purposewith interior ridges and valleys, or corrugations, adapted to deform theiiange of an out wardly flanged closure element so that the excess metalmay be taken up in the folds or corrugations and the flange cause togrip the cooperating part upon the nozzle to retain the parts inassembled and tightly closed relation. Y

I am aware that it is old in the manufacture of seals for bottles orjars to provide a sealing cap of the crown and corkk type and that suchcaps are applied to and held upon the necks of bottles contiiiinere bycrmp ing the flange of the closure and causing an inwardly extendingbead or projection in the flange to engage under the edge of the bottlenozzle or neck. This, however, is a very different type and style ofclosure than the one disclosed in my invention. In the crown and corktype of closure, the crimped flange of the closure is formed before theclosure is applied to the nozzle or neck. In other words, the closurehas a partially outstanding crimped and corrugated flange before it isapplied and after being secured in position, these crimps are bentfurther into place. This action does not give the exact adaptation ofthe closure member to the neck about which it is placed. In myinvention, since the flange is straight previous to closing, the neck ornozzle part is 'the shaping element for the bending of the closuremember. Each portion of the liange that is forced inwardly in formingeach corrugation is exactly related to the part of the nozzle or neckthat it engages and this is independent of any irregularities in theflange of the nozzle or neck. This molding or forming of eachcorrugation to the correct position upon the nozzle results in theproper tension of the parts upon the gasket or pack within the closuremember. rlhis insures proper sealing tension of the closing member inconnection with the gasket or pack. In the crown and cork type, themetal is already partially shaped and the closing action does notreshape to adapt the closure to the nozzle or neck, but rather carriesthe partial shaping further to form the complete bending of the closuremember.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentas it is better understood from the following description, which, takenin connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferredembodiment thereof.

In said drawings, I have shown, for illustrative purposes only, thepreferred embodiment of my invention, in which,

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a series of cans provided withnozzles and closures therefor, which are being applied in accordancewith my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the upper part of thecontainer and nozzle, the latter being` broken away and sect-ionalizedto better illustrate the closure elements;

Fig. 3 is a view of the assembled parts shown in Fig. 2 and of theclosing tool in its initial position for the closing operation, saidtool being shown in cross section for illustrat-ion of the internalparts;

Figs. 4 and 5 are views similar to Fig. 3 and showing the differentpositions of the closing tool and the liange of the outer closure memberas the closing operation progresses;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the container nozzle and closureelement-s in separated relationship;

Fig. 7 is a. similar view, showing a dierent form of outer sea-lingring; and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged partial section of the nozzle and closure elementsafter the latter have been applied in accordance with my invention.

The cans 11, shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing, may, as previously stated,be arranged in adjacent relationship, either in a line in the factory orin a packing case, or other convenient location, with the closureelements placed thereon in any preterred manner in the relationshipshown in Fig. 2. Said closure elements, as shown in Fig. 6, consist ofa. cork, or gasket, 12 adapted to be placed upon a top horizontal ledge13 formed upon the nozzle 14, which extends upwardly from the top of thecan and may be applied thereto in any suitable or approved manner. acupshaped closure member 15 heilig applied over the cork 12 and thenozzle flange, and a sealing ring 16 is then applied over said cupshapedmember 15, so that the parts, prior to the use of the closing tool, arearranged as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing. Viewing said ligure, it willbe observed that the nozzle flange extends vertically downward from theledge 13, as indicated at 17, and then is turned inwardly and upwardlyat 18 toward the nozzle wall. The sealing ring 16 has a vertical .wall21, terminating in an outwardly extending flange 22, which iiange isadapted to be operated upon by the closing tool to clamp the parts inclosing position, as will now be described.

The closing tool consists of an inner disk 23, having a rod 24'extending upwardly therefrom and surrounded by a spring 25, which bearsat one end against said disk 23 and at the other end against a shoulder2G formed Within an outer cylinder or sleeve 27, which tits over thedisk 23 and is adapted to be moved downwardly relative thereto againstthe tension of the spring 25, a handle 23 being provided upon saidsleeve 27 for this purpose. rlhis handle has a transverse grip wherebyit may be strongly pushed and forced downward over the sealing member todeform the same, as shown in Fig. 1. The upper end of the rod 24 isthreaded and has a nut 29 thereon to hold the parts in assembledrelationship.. The disk 23 is disposed within a bore 31 of said sleeve27 and the wall of the sleeve, at the lower edge thereof, is formed uponthe interior with an outwardly inclined portion 32, which is providedwith a series of ridges and valleys, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 3vto 5 of the drawings. In operation, the disk 23 of the closing tool isplaced upon the top of the sealing ring 16 and pressure applied throughthe handle 28 to the sleeve 27 to force the same downwardly against thetension of the spring 25 and relatively to said disk 23.

Cil

Inasmuch as the flange 22 of the scaling ring is extended outwardly sothat there is an excess of material in the' outer part thereof, saidexcess must be taken up by deforming the flange when it is brought tosmaller diameter and it is for this purpose that the portion 32 of thesleeve is formed as described, the flange 32 being brought to thecrimped or corrugated form, as indicated at 33 in Figs. l and 5, whensaid sleeve is forced downwardly from the position shown in Fig. 3 tothat shown in Fig. l. Further downward movement of said sleeve forcesthe corrugated flange of the sealing ring inwardly over the verticalline of the wall part 21, so that the parts are arranged in therelationship shown in Fig. 8, with the corrugations of the flange 22 incontact with the underside of the nozzle flange at the point of bend 18.

For the purpose of opening the container, I provide means for removingthe sealing ring 16, which, as shown in Fig. 6, comprises an inwardlyextending tongue 34 projected from the top part of the ring which isscored upon a line 35 extending to the flange 22, so that by pullingsaid tongue, the sealing ring may be severed and readily removed. InFig. 7, I have shown a somewhat different form of opening arrangement,tongues 36 being extended from opposite sides of the flange 22 and thematerial of the ring being scored upon lines 37 extending inwardlyalmost to the inner diameter of the top portion of the ring, so that bypulling upwardly upon said tongues, the ring may be severed at one orboth sides to break the seal.

4It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantageswill be under stood from the foregoing description, and it will beapparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction andarrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention, or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the formhereinbefore described. being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

l. The method of closing sheet metal containers having an outwardlyextending hollow sheet metal retaining part which consists in arranginga closure, including a gasket and an inverted cup-member therein and asealing ring element, upon a neck or open end of the container with thesealing element extended laterally, forming corrugations in saidlaterally extending sealing element after it is arranged upon thecontainer, and pressing the corrugated portion of said sealing elementdownwardly to cause it to bend inwardly under the edge of the cupmemberand toward the container wall and to engage beneath the outwardlyextending retaining part.

2. A tool for closing containers, consisting of a sleeve adapted to tclosely around the body vof a flanged closure member and to slidedownward around said body, and an inner pressure disk adapted to bear onthe top of the closure member, said sleeve having corrugating ridgesformed on the end thereof for crimping the flange of the closure.

JOHN M. HOTHERSALL.

